Globalization

Japan has many modern, sometimes western, featuers incorporated in society. Tall buildings, electronics, shinkansen (bullet train), etc represent Japan's globalization. What most fascinates me among these features is McDonald's in Japan.

In 1971, the first McDonald's was opened in Japan. Den Fujita was the one who opened the first McDonald's in Ginza, a luxurious city in Tokyo, Japan. He went to Tokyo University Law School, and he was especially interested in international trade. After graduating from the university, he worked in importing business. While importing many stuffs, he became ready to import McDonald's chain in Japan.

First McDonald's in Ginza had no tables or seats at all. Take and out system was applied to the first McDonald's in Japan. However, Japanese society value group over individual, and take and out system was something strange to them. Later on, tables and seats were installed to fit Japanese culture.

First McDonald's in Ginza had the menu, which was very similar to that of the U.S. It was somewhat successful, but it seemed that something must be done to make it prosper further. Japanese taste came under consideration. People in differet cultures eat different types of food. As a result, many new items that fit Japanese taste have been added to the menu. Teriyaki burger and rice burger are great examples, which cannot be found in American McDonald's.

Ingredients of soda is different as well. Japanese people prefer less sweet cola than American people. This was put into consideration too, and less sugar is being added to cola in Japanese McDonald's. These adjustments to menu and ingredients have been successful and led to continuation of McDonald's prosperity in Japan.

Sports and Recreation

Japan is a country of euphemism and politeness. People use indirect expressions in daily life, which has been incorporated into Japanese culture. When entering any small shop or department store, employees greeting customers by saying "irrashaimasei" (welcome in English) is common scene in Japan. Also, unlike English, Japanese language has formal and informal way of speaking and writing. It is required to speak in formal way to the person of higher social rank than the speaker.

These super-polite mannerism and the use of formal and informal ways of speaking define Japan. There is no single answer to the reason why Japanese people use euphemism and being super polite compared to the U.S. It seems that the use of formal and informal speech developed in Japan because of strict social segregation in Shogun period. Shogun was the king of the village he lived. Right below shogun were samurais, or warriors. Samurais fight for their shogun and were respected for their courage and royalty. In ancient Japan, peasants were lower in social rank, and were required to speak in formal way to samurais. In turn, samurais were also required to speak in formal way to their shogun. It is believed that strict social rank system contributed to the development of formal and informal way of speech in Japaneses.

Likewise, Japanese culture respects group more than individual. In agricultural ancient Japan period, peasants cooperated on rice fields. Samurais cooperated to serve their shoguns. These all had contributed to the development of social bondage in Japanese culture. Strict social rank system and agricultural society developed appropriate mannerism and social bondage. These can be found today not only in Japanese language but also in recreation.

Travel is one of the most common way to enjoy leisure in many countries. In Japan, people do not travel alone, which is little different from some other countries. I interviewed 10 Japanese students in Kansai Gaidai University, and none of them said they are okay with traveling alone. On the other hand, 2 out of 5 American students said they can travel alone depending on situation. Sample size of the quick survey was small though, it seems there is a big difference between Japanese students and American students. I believe that strict rank system and agricultural society molded Japanese culture and cooperation has been essential part of Japanese society throuhout history. As a result, even today people value group more than individual.

First picture of the blog is taken by one Japanese lady at the spot.

Japanese pop culture and entertainment

Animation is probably one of the most attracting and fantastic aspects of Japan. Many foreign visitors come to Japan to explore Japan's anime culture. Above photo is the animation and game store in Shibuya, Tokyo. Numerous animation serieses and games are displayed for sale.

Tetsuka Osamu is probably the one who opened the Japan's anime world. He made Atom, or Astro Boy, one of the first animations in Japan. While no one was willing to invest in the field of children of that time period, Osamu was the first one to make the animation's broadcasting on television. His first and the most famous work, Atom, was broadcasted from 1963 to 1966.

Afterwards, many followed Osamu's path in making animations in Japan. Because of its worldwidely popular animations, many unique cultures developed as well. One of the most surprising is costume roleplay, or cosplay. Cosplay is a type of entertaining art, in which artists wear certain costumes to imitate animation characters. It is thought that cosplay actually is originated from Europe, but it is more popular in Japan today.


Harajuku area in Tokyo is probably the most popular place for cosplay in Japan. Cosplayers displaying various costumes are common scenes in Harajuku. Cosplayers not only dress up like manga characters, but also they actually "play" the characters' spirit. Many cosplay events are held in Harajuku region each year, attracting many fans.